Author Chenxing Han (Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists) was in conversation with Kaishin Victory Matsui, Director of Ancestral Heart Temple, for the 2023 BZC Summer Reading Program.

More than two thirds of U.S. Buddhists are Asian American. But you’d never guess this from mainstream representations, which all too often whitewash the racial and cultural diversity of American Buddhist communities. “Be the Refuge” is both critique and celebration, countering the erasure of Asian American Buddhists while uplifting their stories and experiences. A must-read for modern sanghas—Asian American Buddhists in their own words, on their own terms.

As part of the BZC Summer Reading Program, Chenxing Han was also in conversation with BZC‘s administrative director Ryan Lee Wong in conversation about her book One Long Listening: a Memoir of Grief, Friendship, and Spiritual Care (available on the BZC Podcast here).

Chenxing Han is the author of the widely reviewed Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists, and the recently released one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship, and spiritual care, both with North Atlantic Books. She is a regular contributor to Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, Buddhadharma, and other publications, and a frequent speaker and workshop leader at schools, universities, and Buddhist communities across the nation. She has received fellowships from Hedgebrook, Hemera Foundation, the Lenz Foundation, and elsewhere. Chenxing holds a BA from Stanford University, an MA in Buddhist Studies from the Graduate Theological Union, and a certificate in Buddhist chaplaincy from the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California. She is a co-teacher of Listening to the Buddhists in Our Backyard at Phillips Academy Andover, and a co-organizer of May We Gather: A National Buddhist Memorial for Asian American Ancestors.